Braided slings with braided loops



Dec. 19, 1961 D. w. GATHMAN ETAL 3,013,463

BRAIDED sLINGs WITH BRAIDED Loops m Y 1 mM n mm o .m WMM n 10C A n 6 m ma 3 /0 L f Bum leo BRN A00@ DGQNNQ omw loew xN .QQ

Filed June 9, 1958 v in llhr Dec. 19, 1961 D. w. GATHMAN ETAL 3,013,463

BRAIDED SLINGS WITH BRAIDED LOOPS Filed June 9, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Iinired States 3,@13,463 Patented Dec. 19, 19x61 dee 3,013,463 BRAIIEED SEINGS Vi/1TH BRAIDED 1.00125 David W. Gathman and Harold G. Cox, Williamsport,

Fa., assignors to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed .inne 9, 1958, Ser. No. 746,947 Ztl Claims. (Ci. 878) This invention relates to wire rope slings and a method of forming them. More particularly this invention relates to a braided wire rope sling having braided eyes, and to a method of forming the same.

An object of the present invention is to provide a braided sling which is both uniformly strong and flexible, and a method of forming such a sling.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of forming a sling which is simple and convenient to carry out and which may be quickly learned.

These and other objects will he more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the method of laying out the individual wire ropes before starting to form the braided wire rope sling.

FIGURE 2 shows the wire ropes just before braiding is begun.

FIGURE 3 shows the finished braid of the first eye or loop.

FIGURE 4 shows the first eye formed.

FIGURE 5 shows the body of the sling braided and sleeves slipped thereover.

FIGURES 6 shows the beginning of the forming of the second eye.

FIGURE 7 shows the second eye as it looks when half completed.

FIGURE 8 shows the sling with the second eye completed.

IGURE 9 shows the completed wire rope sling.

Referring to the drawings it will be seen that the present embodiment of the sling when completed consists essentially of a four part braid each part being composed of a pair of wire ropes.

Referring particularly to FIGURE 1 it will be seen that in the particular embodiment of the present invention which we have chosen to be illustrative of our method there are eight individual ropes present which have been given the numerical designations of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. It should be understood that, although we have for illustrative purposes chosen to describe a braided wire rope sling and method of making the same composed of eight individual wire ropes, any other even number of wire ropes greater than two could be formed into such a sling, for instance, a comparable sling might be braided from only four wire ropes.

Examination of FIGURE 1 will reveal that the ropes 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 have been arranged into two major groups whose ends overlap, the first major group consisting of the ropes 11, 12, 13 and 14 to the left and the second major group consisting of the ropes 15, 16, 17 and 18 to the right.

Further examination of FIGURE 1 will reveal that the eight ropes have further been marked off at various points with reference points designated as A, B, C, D, E and F. The two groups of ropes 11, 12, 13 and 14, and 15, 16, 17 and 18 overlap in the area from A to B and a little beyond.

The first step in our method of forming braided wire rope slings is to divide the eight ropes from A to B into four pairs of ropes, for instance, 11 and 12, 15 and 16, 17 and 18, 13 and 14. Seizing is then temporarily applied at point A. The four pairs of ropes are then braided together into a standard four-part braid (each pair of ropes forming one part) from point A to point B as can be seen in FIGURE 3 after which seizing is temporarily applied at point B. The braided portion from A to B is now` formed into a loop as seen in FIGURE 4. This operation also brings the portions of the two pairs of ropes 11 and 12, and 13 and 14 in the areas from point B to point E adjacent to the portions of the two pairs of ropes 15 and 16, and 17 and 18 in the areas from point A to point F as may also be seen in FIGURE 4. The four pairs of ropes 11 and 12, 13 and 14, 15 and 16, and 17 and 18 in the area from point A-B to point C-D are now braided toether in a standard four-part braid (each of the pairs again forming one part). This can be seen in FIGURE 5. Seizing is then applied at point C-D. This last braided section will form the body of the finished sling. If sleeves are to be employed at the throats of the loops they should now be slipped over this central or body portion of the sling as may also be seen in FIGURE 5. The remaining unbraided portions of any two pairs of the four pairs of ropes from point C-D to point E-F (as shown in FIG- URE 5) are selected, for instance, as illustrated in the drawings 11, 12 and 13 and 14, and are twisted together for their full length. The two pairs of twisted together ropes are then turned back on themselves in the form of a loop so that original point E on them is adjacent point C-D as may be seen in FIGURE 6, and seizing is then temporarily applied to hold the ends of the two pairs 11, 12 and 13 and 14 to the body portion at C-D. The other two pairs of untwisted ropes, in this case 15' and 16, and 17 and 18, are now inserted individually in pairs between the twisted pairs of ropes 11 and 12, and 13 and 14 starting from the opposite side of the body from which the twisted ropes 11, 12, 13 and 14E- originated (or, in other words, near the free ends of the twisted pairs) and continuing around the loop in the opposite direction from that of the rope pairs 11 and 12 and 13 and 14 to form a braided structure identical in form to that in the body of the sling (from points A-B to C-D) until the inserted pairs return to point C-D as seen in FIGURES 7 and 8. (FIGURE 7 shows the inserted pairs of ropes inserted half way around the loop and FIGURE 8 shows them completely inserted around the loop of twisted pairs to form the finished eye of the sling). The sleeves on the body portion of the sling are then slipped over the loose ends of the various ropes as seen in FIGURE S and clamped. As a last step the loose ends of the ropes are cut off at the throats of the eyes close to the sleeves resulting in a tinished braided wire rope sling as seen in FIGURE 9.

The preceding description illustrates probably the sim plest embodiment of our method of forming wire rope slings. Variations of this basic method are possible, however. One such variation which should be understood concerns the manner of forming the second loop. In this variation the two pairs of ropes 11 and 12, and 13 and 14 (orany other two pairs), instead of being twisted together from the same side of the body of the sling so that original point E of 11` and 12 ends up adjacent to point E of 13 and 14 when forming the loop, are, on the contrary, brought together from opposite sides of the sling body in a large loop by bringing the two ends of 11 and 12 and of y13 and 14 together in an ordinary overhand knot and then pulling the loop tighter into what will be the final finished size of the eye while at the same time twisting the ends of both pairs around the other pair. In other words the twopairs of ropes 11 and 12, and 13 and 14` are twisted together from opposite directions by means of a series of loose overhand or underhand knots and then pulled down into a tighter loop of the finished size of the eye of the sling and the points E and E of 11 and 12, and 13 and 14 respectively, seized at point C-D on the body. The two remaining pairs of ropes and i6, and 17 and l are now inserted as pairs between the twisted together pairs i1 and 12, and 13 and 14 as in the previous embodiment except that in this instance one pair of ropes i7 and i8 is inserted around the loop in the opposite direction from the other pair of ropes 15 and 16. These two pairs of ropes are inserted between the two twisted together pairs of ropes completely around the loop so that a loop or eye is finally formed with a structure similar to that shown in FiGURE 8 after which the sleeves are clamped and the loose ends cut off as in the first embodiment of our invention previously described.

Although we have used the generic term rope throughout our preceding description to refer to the parts of the braid it should be understood that what is meant is a stranded structure which may be one strand, a rope formed of a number of strands, or a small cable stranded of individual ropes.

lt will be seen from the foregoing description of this invention that a strong flexible wire rope sling may be obtained by this method without any complicated, time consuming or delicate operations, and that further this method may be quickly learned and when once learned may be carried out in a minimum of time to form any number of uniform slings.

Although we have thus described our invention hereinabove in considerable detail, we do not wish to be limited narrowly to the exact and specic particulars disclosed, but we may also use such substitutes, modications or equivalents as are included within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

We claim:

l. A sling having a braided body composed of four parts, each part comprising a pair of ropes, and an eye at one end of said body, composed of four parts, each part comprising a pair of ropes, the parts of the body and the eye comprising the same pairs of ropes, the individual ropes of each pair extending throughout the body and the eye in the same direction relative to each other, each pair of ropes passing around the eye in a direction opposite to, and in braided engagement with, another pair of ropes.

2. A braided sling having a braided body and eyes composed of undivided unitary groups of ropes throughont the body and eyes and having the same dimensions and form of braiding in the body and eyes, and in which each individual rope in any of the groups of ropes forming the braid at any point extends in the same direction as any other ropes forming part of the same group of ropes in the braid.

3. A braided sling having a braided body and eyes, the braid throughout the said body and eyes comprising parts formed of one or more ropes, the parts in the braided eyes consisting of the identical ropes as the parts in the braided body, the parts in the body all being braided in the same direction while the same parts in the eyes are grouped into two substantially equal groups of parts braided together from opposite directions, any individual ropes comprising each part of the braid throughout the eyes and the body of the braided sling being maintained in identical positional and directional relationship with any other ropes within and comprising each said part as the said braided parts pass from the eyes to the body and from the body to the eyes of the braided sling.

4. The method of forming a braided sling comprising arranging a series of ropes in two groups with a portion of the opposite ends of each of said groups overlapping, braiding said overlapping portions and bringing the ends of the braided portion together to form a loop, braiding all of the rop from both of said groups for a distance equivalent to the length desired for the sling body, twisting together a portion of the remaining unbraided ropes,

Il doubling this twisted portion back to said body portion and then inserting the remainder of the unbraided ropes between the twisted together ropes, beginning at the extreme end of the twisted portion and thus progressively around the entire loop to form a braided eye having a braid form similar to the body portion.

5. The method of forming a sling as in claim 4 in which all of the braiding and twisting is done with increments each of which comprises two strands.

6. The method of forming a sling comprising arranging a multiple even number of ropes into two groups each of said groups made up of an even number of pairs of ropes, the opposite end portions of each of said groups being placed in juxtaposition and braided together in pairs to form a loop when the opposite ends of said braided length are brought together, braiding all of the ropes from both of said groups, using the same pairs as in the loop, for a distance equivalent to the desired sling body length, twisting half of the pairs of ropes together for their remaining length, doubling this twisted portion back to said body portion and inserting the remaining half of the pairs of ropes between the twisted together pairs of ropes, starting at the extreme end of the twisted portion and thus progressively around the entire loop formed by said doubled back twisted portion, whereby a similar loop is formed on either end of the braided body portion.

7. The method of forming a braided sling comprising arranging a series of ropes in two groups with a portion of one end of one group adjacent to the opposite end of the other group in an overlapping pattern, braiding the overlapping portions of the two groups of ropes together, bringing the two ends of the braided portion together in a loop to form one eye of the sling, braiding together the remainder of the two groups of ropes for a portion of their length to form the body of the sling, twisting together onehalf of the remaining unbraided portion of the ropes, doubling tbese twisted together ropes back to the body portion in the form of a loop and then inserting the remainder of the unbraided ropes between the twisted together ropes completely around the loop in a direction opposite to that of the twisted loop to form the braided second eye of the sling.

8. The method of forming a braided sling comprising taking a series of ropes and arranging them in pairs of ropes, dividing the pairs into two groups arranged with a portion of one end of one group adjacent to the opposite end of the other group in an overlapping pattern, braiding the ropes of the overlapping portions of the two groups together as pairs, bringing the ends of the braided portion together in a loop to form one eye of the sling, braiding the pairs of one group together with the pairs of the other group for a portion of the remainder of the unbraided length of the ropes to form the body portion of the sling, twisting half the remaining unbraided pairs together into one twisted portion for the remainder of the length of the ropes, doubling this twisted portion back on itself to form a loop, and inserting the remaining pairs of ropes between the twisted together pairs of the loop at the free end thereof and progressively completely around the loop to form the second braided eye of the endless sling.

9. The method of forming a braided sling comprising taking a series of ropes and arranging into sub-groups of uniform numbers of ropes, dividing these sub-groups into two major groups arranged with a portion of one end of one major group adjacent to a portion of the opposite end of the other major group in an overlapping pattern, braiding the ropes of the overlapping portions of the two maior groups together in a braid composed of braided sub-groups of ropes, bringing the ends of the braided portion together in a loop to form one eye of the sling, braiding the sub-groups of both major groups together in one braid for a portion of the remaining unbraided length of the ropes to form the braided body of the sling, taking one-half of the sub-groups of the now remaining unbraided portion of the ropes and twisting said sub-groups of ropes together into a single twisted section, doubling said single twisted section back to form a loop, and inserting the remaining half of the sub-groups of ropes between the twisted sub-groups of ropes completely around the loop starting from the opposite side of the body portion from the start of the twisted section to form the second eye of the endless sling.

10. The method of forming a braided sling composed of eight ropes comprising arranging the eight ropes into pairs, laying out the pairs with a portion of the end section of two pairs overlapping a portion of the opposite end section of the other two pairs, braiding the overlapping sections of the four pairs into a four-pair braid, bringing the two ends of this braided section together in a loop t form one eye of the sling, braiding into a four-pair braid a portion of the remaining unbraided lengths of the four pairs to form the body of the endless sling, twisting together two pairs of ropes for the remainder of their unbraided lengths, doubling the two twisted together pairs back to the end of the braided body portion of the sling to form a loop, and inserting the two remaining untwisted pairs between the twisted pairs of ropes progressively and completely around the loop starting from the opposite side of the body portion of the sling from the start of the twisted pairs to form the second eye of the endless sling.

1l. The method of forming a braided sling composed of a plurality of ropes comprising arranging said plurality of ropes in two major groups with a portion of the end section of one group in overlapping relationship with a portion of the opposite end section of the other group, braiding together the ropes of the overlapping portions of the two groups, bringing the ends of the braided section together in a loop to form an eye of the endless sling, braiding together a portion of the remaining unbraided length of the ropes to form the body portion of the sling, taking substantially a quarter of the remaining unbraided ropes from one side of the body portion and another quarter of the ropes from the other side of the body portion of the sling, bringing the said ropes together in a loop and twisting the ropes about each other, and inserting the other two quarters of the ropes between the twisted ropes from opposite directions along the twisted loop and progressively completely around the loop to form the raided second eye of the endless sling having a braid form similar to the braid form of the iirst eye and body of the sling.

l2. The method of forming a braided sling composed of eight ropes comprising dividing the eight ropes into four pairs of ropes, laying out the pairs in two major groups of two pairs each with a portion of the end section of one group of two pairs overlapping a portion of the opposite end section of the other group of two pairs,

braiding together the overlapping portions of the four pairs into a four-pair braid, bringing the two ends of the braided section together in a loop to form one eye of the endless sling, braiding together in a four-pair braid a portion of the remaining unbraided length of the two pairs of ropes of one major group with the two pairs of ropes of the other major group, taking the remaining unbraided length of one pair of ropes and the remaining unbraided length of another pair of ropes, bringing them together in a loop and twisting them around each other from 0pposite directions, and taking the two remaining pair of ropes and inserting them between the two twisted together pairs of ropes progressively around the loop from opposite directions along the loop to form the second braided eye of the braided sling.

13. The method of forming a braided sling composed of four ropes comprising arranging the four ropes in two groups of two ropes each with a portion of the opposite ends of each of said groups overlapping, braiding the said overlapping portions together in a four part braid and bringing the ends of the braided portion together to form a loop, braiding together in a four part braid all of the ropes from both of said groups for a distance equivalent to the length desired for the sling body, twisting t0- gether two of the remaining unbraided ropes, doubling this twisted portion back to the said braided body portion and then inserting the two untwisted together ropes between the twisted together ropes, beginning at the free end of the twisted portion and thus progressively around the entire loop to form a second braided eye.

14. The method of forming an eye and a body portion in a sling comprising taking a series of wire ropes and arranging them in two major groups with a portion of one end section of one major group adjacent to the opposite end section of the other major group in an overlapping pattern, braiding the overlapping portions of the two major groups together for the substantial length of the overlapping portions, bringing the two ends of the braided portion together in a loop to form an eye of the sling and braiding together at least a portion of the adjacent unbraided sections of all the ropes to form the body of the sling.

15. The method of forming an eye and a body portion in a sling comprising taking a series of wire ropes and arranging them into sub-groups of uniform number of ropes, dividing said sub-groups of ropes into two major groups arranged with a portion of one end section of one major group adjacent to a portion of the opposite end section of the other major group in .an overlapping pattern, braiding the ropes of the overlapping portions of the two major groups together in a braid composed of said sub-groups of ropes, bringing the ends of the braided together overlapping portion of the two major groups together in the form of a loop to form an eye of the sling and braiding at least a portion of the remaining unbraided lengths of the sub-groups of ropes together in a braid composed of all the sub-groups of ropes from` both the major groups to form the body portion of the sling.

16. The method of forming an eye and a body section of a sling comprising taking a series of wire ropes and arranging them into groups of uniform numbers of ropes, braiding a portion of the length of said groups of ropes together with each other to form a body portion of a sling, taking substantially one-half of said groups of ropes for the remainder of their unbraided length `at one end of the braided portion and twisting said groups about each other, doubling back these twisted together groups to the braided Ibody of the sling in the form of a loop and inserting the remaining groups of ropes between the twisted together ropes progressively .and completely around the loop starting from the opposite side of the loop from the starting point of the 'ropes of said loop to form an eye of the sling.

17. The method of forming a braided sling comprising taking a series of Wire ropes and arranging them into sub-groups of uniform numbers of wire ropes, dividing said sub-groups into two major groups arranged with a portion of one end of one major group adjacent to a portion of the opposite end of the other major group in an overlapping pattern, seizing the two groups together at a point near one end of the overlapping portions of the two major groups, braiding the strands of the overlapping portions of the two major groups together from the seizing to near the other end of the overlapping portion of the major groups in a braid composed of sub-groups of wire ropes, bringing the ends of the braided portion together in a loop and seizing to form one eye of the sling with the remaining unbraided portions of the ropes extending out substantially parallel and in substantially the same direction, braiding the sub-groups of both major groups together in one braid for a portion of the remaining unbraided length of the ropes and seizing to form the braided body of the sling, taking one halt` of the sub-groups of ropes over their remaining unbraided portions and twisting said subgroups of ropes together into a single twisted section, doubling said twisted section back in the form of a loop t0 the braided body portion and seizing thereto, alternately inserting the remaining two quarters of the subgroups of ropes past each other between the twisted sub-groups of ropes progressively and completely around the loop of twisted strands starting from the opposite side of the body portion of the sling from the start of the twisted strands in the loop to form the second eye of the endless sling, affixing permanent securing means over all the loose ends of the ropes and the end portions of the braided sling body at the throats of the eyes and cutting ol the loose ends of all ropes adjacent the said securing means to complete the sling.

18. A sling comprising a body and an eye at one end thereof, the body and the eye being formed of a plurality of parts braided together, each part comprising a pair of ropes extending side-by-side throughout the body and the eye, the parts being divided into two groups at the throat of the eye, each group passing around the eye in a direction opposite to that of the other group.

19. A braided sling composed of a plurality of parts, each part comprising a plurality of ropes, the parts being braided together to form a body, the parts being separated at one end of the body into two groups, the groups being bent back on themselves in opposite directions and braided together to form an eye, the ropes of each part extending side by side throughout the body and eye.

20. A braided eye of a braided sling comprising a braid composed of two overlapping groups of a plurality of parts braided together in the overlapping portion, each part comprising a plurality of ropes, the two ends of the braid being brought together to form an eye, the loose ends of the two groups of overlapping parts being braided together to form the body of the sling, the ropes of each part extending in the same direction relative to each other throughout the entire braided structure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,142,642 Garris Jan. 3, 1939 2,304,306 Hobbs Dec. 8, 1942 2,359,424 Jay Oct. 3, 1944 2,414,664 Peterson Jan. 21, 1947 2,418,524 Peterson et al. Apr. 8, 1947 2,575,974 Peterson Nov. 20, 1951 FORElGN PATENTS 200,778 Australia Ian. l1, 1955 702,998 Great Britain Ian. 27, l954 

